1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the treatment of various disease states with Dibenzyl Trisulphide (DTS). Further, the present invention relates to the use of DTS for cancer therapeutic treatment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The urgent need to find effective and safe therapeutic agents to treat cancers and auto-immune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis has been one of the greatest challenges for the pharmaceutical companies (1). Recent studies have revealed that the top 150 propriety drugs used in the western hemisphere, 57% contained at least one major active compound derived from natural sources (2). However, one of the major foci of the therapeutic industry is to find small molecules which regulate the biochemistry of disease cells via signal transduction modes of action (3), dibenzyl trisulphide (DTS) is one such molecule (see FIG. 1). Dibenzyl trisulphide was first coded as DBTS when its insecticidal/repellent activities were discovered (4) and re-coded as DTS when its therapeutic potential was found (5). The signal transduction pathways regulate cell biological processes e.g. gene expression, differentiation, cell division and apoptosis generated from interaction/binding of molecules to cell membrane receptors. One of the most intensely investigated therapeutic signal transduction pathway is that which regulates the process of apoptosis or programmed cell death. The apoptotic signal transduction cascade is implicated in several cancers, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, transplant rejection, autoimmune disorder such as diabetes, acquired immune deficiency syndrome and Hodgkin's lymphoma (6).
The prior art includes US Pub. No. 2005/0261321, “Substituted organosulfur compounds and methods of using thereof.” This published patent application generally describes using DTS to treat cancer. It also generally mentions DTS formulated with bovine serum albumin, without any cytotoxic evaluation, summarizing Rosner et al. (7). Lastly the application describes using various R groups attached to a carbon molecule connecting the trisulfide to a benzyl group.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,555,712 as relevant to the possible use of DTS and its substituted cousins as therapeutic agents. The patent, entitled “Process for the preparation of diorganotrisulfide,” provides a general method for synthesizing various diorganotrisulfides, including DTS and its substituted cousins.
An article entitled “Synthesis and anti anti-tumor evaluation of new trisulfide derivatives,” was written by H. An, J. Zhu, X. Wang, and X. Xu and was published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, Volume 16, Issue 18, pages 4826-4829 (September 2006). The article reported information on the anti-tumor activities of DTS and several related species (involving substitution of at least one benzyl ring from the base DTS molecule).
However, none of the above formulations or methods of using DTS created an enhanced cytotoxic effect against cancer cells; thus there remains a need for such a molecule to more affectively treat cancer, among other ailments.
The present invention is provided to solve the problems discussed above and other problems. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.